Kyle’s Reviews > Doctor Strange: The Oath > Status Update

Additional material for a DVD extra, we at least get to see Dr. Hilt in action and hopefully a larger role for him on the suddenly obsolete format. Can’t say I am impressed by whomever Hilt’s colleague Lorenzo claims to be as he dismisses the sorcerer as a charlatan when he at least should have recognized him from David Letterman, as Dr. West would later report. Perhaps Lorenzo is more of a Leno fan? Makes sense!

The Finale pushes two masters of mystical arts to extreme measures, as both Strange and West cast spells and resort to fisticuffs on the Timely rooftop. For each moment of innovation and ingenuity with comic storytelling, the climax relies on the two most often-used cinematic tropes in action/adventure genre: bad guy falls from great height and good guy gets the girl in the end. Clea might take issue with the latter.

Are all of Doctor Strange’s mystical foes such common knowledge that a murderous thief like Brigand or the mild-mannered antagonist Nicodemus West able to threaten Stephen? Seems like Doc would have kept tighter wraps on these supernatural terrors. Or is the Book of Vishanti chronicling each moment for other overlords with their own nefarious plans? Perhaps it is, as Wong claims, a collective consciousness at work.

The Eye of Agamotto speaks!! The splash page narrating the present situation will probably be used sparingly in future issues, yet it lends an introspective otherworldly point of view to the mundane medical drama of bullet wounds or the cure for cancer. Stephen “Sherlock” Strange provides the mind-body intelligence to seeks clues in his past, much like what Alan Watts wrote about and his Watson’s personal care.

A refreshing way to catch up with the long history of the Sorcerer Supreme as well as the daily doings of superheroes in need of medical attention. Vaughan builds on the established lore while also calling to question an awkward master-and-servant relationship between Stephen and Wong. The Night Nurse may just be a regular citizen with her own back story that could come into play at a crucial point in this short run.